Kelly McParland: The McGuinty legacy founders on question of trust

There is a bit of a conundrum involved in assessing the record of Premier Dalton McGuinty as he tries for a third straight victory in Ontario.

There is no questioning that he has accomplishments. The province has been much quieter since the Liberals replaced the bare-knuckle approach of Mike Harris’s Common Sense Revolution. Less public screaming, fewer hysterical union predictions of the end of civilization as we know it. Or so it seems, anyway, without actually counting up the number of strike days in the comparative records of the two governments.

Hospitals have been built, class sizes in schools reduced. Mr. McGuinty is the first to point this out, and he has every right to do so. So, logically, he should be re-elected, right? A peaceful, pleasant province where people go about their lives while trying not to intrude too much into those of others. Even though the economy is in a rut, it’s still better than just about anywhere else. What’s to complain about?

The problem is in the means by which the results have been achieved. Mr. McGuinty has produced his accomplishments by doling out huge helpings of money, even when he’s had to borrow it in equally large amounts. Provincial employees and their unions have been quiescent because Mr. McGuinty gives them what they want: ever high wages and ever greater benefits. He knows this causes problems for other Ontario governments, which have little choice but to match them and don’t have the resources to do so, but he refuses to reform the arbitration system that sticks them with bills they can’t afford, because it would upset the unions.

Mr. McGuinty is an appeaser. He avoids confrontation. He doesn’t like to fight. In a world of too many politicians hopped up on too much testosterone, that might not be such a bad thing. But sometimes leadership requires saying no, upholding the law, and accepting that people can’t always get what they want. Ontario’s Liberal government avoids that. In some cases it simply closes its eyes and looks away. And the costs, both human and financial, are significant.

The government simply looked away when stuck with a hideous confrontation between natives and town residents at Caledonia. There was no obvious solution and no easy way out, so the government simply stopped enforcing the law, left residents to deal with the situation on their own, and then paid them off with settlements later on. Ruined lives? Here’s a cheque.

It takes a similar tack when dealing with organized labour. Unions have the potential to cause disruption and, with it, political embarrassment. The easiest thing to do is buy them off, even if that means an ever-growing spending bill in a province with a serious debt and deficit problem. It’s in the interests of Ontarians to curb public expenses, but it’s in the interests of the government to avoid embarrassment, so Mr. McGuinty has chosen what’s better for his party. Sometimes this means misleading voters, or bordering on the dishonest, such as when the government declared a freeze on wages then proceeded to negotiate secret deals helping the unions bypass his own demands.

Money, to Mr. McGuinty, is never a problem. He has pledged throughout his campaign to reduce his spending habit, but his own actions constantly belie the promise. With just a week to go to election day, and his party in a tough race, he suddenly cancelled a controversial power plant being built in Mississauga, even though construction was well underway and the cost of cancellation is likely to be enormous, all because it’s a decision that could save him a seat. He similarly says he will lower university tuition by subsidizing students up to $1,600 each, which may win a few votes but will saddle every subsequent government with a half-billion-dollar liability that will remain long after universities have nudged their tuition fees back up to today’s levels. Reports suggest he is even now working on a last-minute jobs bill, to be paid for out of an emergency rainy day fund, because Liberals figure wasting the fund on a last-minute slap-dash program is worth it if it helps them hold onto a seat or two.

Which is the core of the problem with Mr. McGuinty. Despite his paternalistic image, he can’t be trusted. Few politicians keep their word on every promise, but Mr. McGuinty is particularly shameless in abandoning principles at a moment’s notice. The list is long and has been often cited, yet so unabashed is the Premier’s fickleness that he continues to betray his own promises even while campaigning to keep them. Rebuilding Ontario’s power infrastructure is a core Liberal policy, and Mr. McGuinty has vowed that parochial local NIMBYism (Not in My Backyard) won’t be allowed to interfere with needed projects, yet his cancellation of the Mississauga plant is his second in a year, both for the same narrow partisan political reasons. He is campaigning on a promise to curb spending, yet has invented new expenditures even as he shakes hands and knocks on doors.

His platform, which promises to rein in spending, can’t be taken seriously. His campaign itself is beholden to union support, and he’s being championed by expensive ad campaigns financed out of union dues. The notion that, if re-elected, he’ll suddenly reverse his compliant attitude to union demands simply defies credibility. Since wages make up 55% of the provincial budget, that makes nonsense of his claim that he can control spending.

Tim Hudak, the Progressive-Conservative leader, is in his first general election as leader and still needs some polishing. It’s just as unlikely he’ll have the money to keep his promises as it is for Mr. McGuinty. Mr. Hudak’s advantage is that he doesn’t share Mr. McGuinty’s compulsion to smooth all arguments by complying with whatever financial demands are put before him. He has no need to placate unions, nor is he beholden to them as is the Premier. While not seeking confrontation, he’s more willing than Mr. McGuinty to stand up for Ontarians’ best interests when they conflict with those of the union leadership.

Can he be trusted? We don’t know yet. But we know Mr. McGuinty can’t be.

In the wake of a Grammy Awards ceremony that disappointed many, from Kanye West to the masses on Twitter lamenting the state of pop music, a historical perspective is key. Few are better poised to offer one than Andy Kim.